


What’s in a Nickname—The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Job

by crayonbreakygal



Series: The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Series [2]
Category: Leverage
Genre: F/M, Humor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-11
Updated: 2020-05-11
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:53:32
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,933
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24136153
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crayonbreakygal/pseuds/crayonbreakygal
Summary: He wasn't coming back. No. No way. What else could he do with his time? Takes place way after season five. Practically present day!
Relationships: Sophie Devereaux/Nathan Ford
Series: The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1741693
Comments: 2
Kudos: 18





	What’s in a Nickname—The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Job

**Author's Note:**

> OK, I am trying to wrap my head around the fact that there will be new Leverage episodes in the future. At some point in time. Tumblr has been giving me ideas though, so here goes a series about where in the world is Nate Ford and what the hell is he up to? No good, of course. I added my last fic to the series too. I'll just keep making up scenarios from time to time, some funny, some probably not so funny. Maybe one of them will be correct. Think "Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego (sp?)".

What’s in a Nickname—The Where in the World Is Nate Ford Job

Takes place way after season five.

“Nate, Nate, Nate.”

“Parker? What?”

“Oh, sorry. I kinda forgot.”

“Forgot what?”

“Nothing.”

Nate sighed against his phone. This was getting ridiculous.

“It’s just if I keep repeating your name, maybe you’ll appear out of nowhere and get us out of this.”

He told them again and again what his stance was.

“I can’t call him Evil Nate because that’s Sterling. I need a new nickname.”

A snicker in the background had Nate pointing his finger in frustration.

“Just call him by his name.”

“I can’t. Hardison suggested Puppy Dog because man the guy …”

“We have to go,” the man to Nate’s right whispered.

“Parker. Just figure it out. You can do this.”

“You need to come back. Now.”

“We had a deal.”

“Well, that was before. Sophie says hi.”

No, Sophie didn’t say hi because his wife was sulking, not speaking to him at the moment. So, she hadn’t said that to Parker to tell him. 

“Hardison misses you.”

No, Hardison didn’t miss him. Hardison was pissed at him because the last time he called, Nate hung up on him because the hacker attempted to trace where he was.

“Tell him to get his ass back here,” Nate heard in the background. 

Eliot had a very distinctive voice. He couldn’t mistake that growling for anyone else.

“Tell Eliot we had a deal. I’m not coming back.”

The man beside him slashed his throat, which was the sign to cut the call short.

“Parker, I have to go. I have a souffle in the oven.”

The man beside him rolled his eyes so hard that Nate almost started laughing.

“Oh. Ok. Wait? You don’t bake…”

Nate had hung up on the call before Parker could finish the thought.

“Souffle? Seriously?”

Nate knocked the hat off his companion in annoyance.

“Dammit, Jim. You wanna blow this?”

James Sterling, INTERPOL god, which was what he was calling himself nowadays, smirked back.

“I’m not the one that will be screwed if they find out.”

Nate quickly grabbed his hat, shoving it on his head. Back to the business at hand. The sunlight blinded him as he opened the door from where the two had ducked to avoid the tail they had picked up.

“Shall we?” Sterling called as he headed to the right.

“No, no. Hardison. Just deal. Alright? I am not, repeat, not going to break up a fight between you and Eliot. Got it?”

It was late, he was tired, and now this?

“He keeps putting himself in harm’s way. I told him, again, that it’s not necessary. Puppy Dog guy screwed up again. Let’s just say he’s not you. You thought I was bad at conning people in the beginning.”

“Still are.”

“Still are what?” Hardison replied, indignation apparent.

Nate rubbed his temples, feeling a headache coming on. The room where he now resided was dim, the only light coming from a small lamp beside the bed. As he drew his hand away from his temple, a spot of blood distracted him from listening to Hardison whine.

“He has a name. Use it.”

“Ok, NotNate, Nate 2.0, whatever. He almost caused a complete meltdown in the job yesterday. Eliot, dammit, had to get his ass out of there.”

“Pot, kettle, Hardison.”

“Yeah, well.”

His left shoulder screamed when he moved the phone over to his less injured side. He was lucky, damn lucky it hadn’t been Eliot or Sophie who called him. Both of them would notice that he was in a tremendous amount of pain.

“Give him some time.”

“Who, Eliot?”

“New guy.”

“Hey, don’t you go making up a nickname for him.”

A frustrated sigh escaped Nate along with a groan of pain.

“Ok, man. I’m just sayin’ is all. The guy is not you.”

And that’s what Nate had wanted, for them to continue with the job and leave him out of it. The four of them could take care of it. Parker could run the jobs just as well as or better than he could. It was for the best.

“He’s not supposed to be me. I thought you didn’t want an asshole in charge.”

“What? You think that Parker would let that guy be in charge?”

Parker was doing fine without Nate’s input. A bandage hit Nate’s face, causing him to flinch. Sterling slowly sat down in a chair on the opposite side of the room. Nate watched as the man ripped his pant leg, exposing what looked like a bullet wound. I don’t like guns carried through Nate’s brain like a shot. Nate didn’t like them either, which was why he had warned Sterling not to bring one. The man had.

Previously:

“Was that a gunshot I heard?”

Nate muted his phone right away.

Unmute. “Playing Call of Duty.”

“So, you’re spending your downtime playing one of those internet games? When you could be here instead? No wonder Sophie’s pissed at you.”

Mute. Nate ducked down to avoid the bullets that were flying over his head. Now was not the time to take a phone call. If Eliot hadn’t called him fifteen times in the last ten minutes, he would have avoided picking the call up. Nate was worried that there was trouble. Did Eliot just want to “talk”?

Unmute. “She’s not pissed,” Nate was able to say before another shot rang out.

His finger immediately hit mute again.

“I beg to differ. I’ve seen her pissed and this is pissed, to the nth degree. Not the reason I called though. Parker needs some guidance on how to handle…”

Nate unmuted again. “Wait, look. Figure it out. Put your heads together and figure this out. This is why I got out of this business. If Parker knew you called.” Mute.

“And she doesn’t. I was just wondering.”

Nate had almost forgotten to mute it again. Another gunshot off in the distance sounded. At least it wasn’t nearby now.

“You should play with Hardison. He needs some pointers.”

Play with Hardison? What the…

“Those damn games are annoying. You know he stayed up until 3 am the other night. Every single damn time he does this…”

Great, so now Eliot wanted to complain about Hardison.

Unmute. “You can handle it. Just like you can handle Parker. Just like you can handle Sophie.”

“Well, nobody can handle Sophie,” Eliot interjected.

“True,” Nate agreed with him. “Just like you can handle working with someone new.”

“He’s not you.”

“Last time I looked. Yep.”

Luckily, the shooting had stopped, although his shoulder hurt like a son of a bitch from the fight he had gotten in an hour earlier in addition to the blood that was dripping from his forehead.

“I gotta go. They’re expecting food and it doesn’t just make itself.”

Nate’s stomach rumbled. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d had a full meal much less something that actually tasted good.

“I miss you. It’s been ages.”

As a matter of fact, it had been a few months since they’d seen each other. Only a few days together hadn’t been enough time. Once the job was finished, then he’d go, urge her to take some time off, be together just the two of them. Now was not the time.

“It’s been a few months.”

“A few months? A girl has needs.”

He did not want to have this conversation right then, especially since his companion might hear it. The cell where they resided wasn’t that large.

“I understand.”

“Do you? That gift you sent me was put to good use.”

Nate suppressed a groan, not wanting a comment from the peanut gallery.

“Glad you liked it.”

“It would be put to better use if you were here to enjoy it also.”

Dammit, Sophie, he wanted to mutter. Luckily, the light was dim, and Sterling couldn’t see the blush that was forming. Nate could actually feel it creep up from his neck to his cheeks.

“We can, well, we can discuss that matter later.”

“Oh, you’re in public. We should meet up. Next week perhaps? I might have some time.”

It would take more than a few weeks for Nate to heal from his injuries. And the fact that both he and Sterling were indisposed at the moment. It might take a bit of time to escape where they were. No way was he letting Sophie know what he was up to. He’d never hear the end of it.

“About that? Maybe next month? I’m almost done.”

The slight pause in conversation worried Nate. It was like she was thinking very carefully what to say next.

“Done with what, darling? Are you finally writing that novel you so carefully hid from me the last time we were together?”

It wasn’t a novel, it was papers dealing with the latest job he was working. He kept perpetuating that it was a novel to keep her suspicion at bay.

“I’m not telling.”

“You have to let me read it at some point. I bet there’s a femme fatale. Right? Am I right? You and your mysteries.”

“Yes, me and my mysteries.”

Another pause. He was really digging himself into a hole. Extricating himself from it was getting harder and harder.

Sterling was not really paying attention to Nate, having gotten up from his filthy mattress to look out the tiny hole to the outside. He snapped his fingers at Nate to get him to wrap up the call in a hurry. They didn’t want their captors to find the cell phone that they had managed to smuggle into the prison.

“Listen. Gotta go. My food is here.”

Nate heard Sophie’s proclamation of love just before he shut it off. He didn’t have time to say it back before the cell door was opened, revealing the men who had taken them hostage.

“Hello, boys,” Sterling quipped as one of the burly men grabbed him to pull him into the hallway.

“Get up,” the other one told Nate as he pointed a weapon directly at Nate’s head.

Nate smoothly placed the phone in his pocket. The bad guy did not look like he’d seen what Nate had just done.

The two men shoved both Nate and Sterling up a set of stairs to the outside. The light blinded Nate until his eyes were able to adjust to the vivid brightness of a beautiful spring day. They had been trapped now for five days without much sun or food. It felt good to breathe the cool air, a stark change from the dank and dirty smells that emanated from every corner of the room where they were held.

He really could use a drink of anything and a shower. Not in any particular order.

“Last chance,” the bad guy ordered.

“For?” Nate started.

“To tell us what you know.”

“We know something? Jim, you wanna handle this?”

“No idea what he’s talking about.”

“Me neither. Not very hospitable, are they?”

“The accommodations were a bit spartan if you ask me.”

“Yeah, well. That’s what you get.”

“Me? What I get? This is all your fault. See if I let you take me on vacation ever again.”

He and Sterling had often quipped back and forth in the day, almost like he and Sophie always had.

“It wasn’t my suggestion. You are the one who suggested we come here.”

“Seriously? You’re blaming me.”

“Shut up,” one of the men yelled.

“Well, hello, fellas. Guns down. Yes, put those guns down. Alright? I’ll be taking these two off your hands, if you please.”

Oh dammit, dammit, dammit. Nate widened his eyes, knowing that this could turn out horribly.

“I’ve been looking for these two bloody bastards for ages. They’re mine now. Scoot along.”

Shit, shit, shit. Why now? What had tipped them off?

“Who the hell are you?”

“Annie Kroy. Now I suggest you comply or my man there will make sure you never walk again.”

Eliot appeared out of nowhere, behind the men, a fierce look spreading across his face. What he didn’t expect was for Sophie to grab him by the ear, like he was a wayward child instead of her husband. Even with her being thoroughly annoyed with him, she still kept in character.

“This one is mine. The other one…”

“Sophie,” Nate managed to mumble to make sure that Sterling was not left for the bad guys to take apart.

“I should slap the two of you silly. I just might when this is all over. Now get a move on, you two.”

Nate hadn’t realized what else was going on behind them. Five well-armed women toting the latest in weaponry also backed Sophie up along with Hardison tapping away with whatever device he was using. They all had on bulletproof vests, except for Eliot. Maybe Sophie had on one too, but with that billowy red coat she loved to wear, he couldn’t tell. He had no idea where Parker might be, but he guessed that they were all on comms, with her leading the charge.

A helicopter swooped in on them, touching down just behind the group, as close as possible without landing on them.

“Well, come on now.”

Eliot walked forward while the five guards handcuffed the two bad guys. It wasn’t just the eight rescuers that Nate saw. There were more possible INTERPOL agents now swarming the compound that was out in the middle of nowhere. How on earth had they found them?

“Coming with us, Sterling?” Nate asked as they started to board the helicopter.

“I need to complete my job, Nate.”

Nate was hoping that by having Sterling beside him that none of them would get angry until later. That theory went out the window as Sophie wound up and slapped him hard across the face.

“Again?” he asked.

“You bloody bastard. Why?”

“It’s just, we had a deal. Remember?”

“You have some ‘splainin’ to do, EvilNate.”

Hardison directed the comment to Nate and not Sterling.

“So now I’m EvilNate.”

“We’ve been calling New Guy Nate. Confuses the hell out of him. You, on the other hand, are now EvilNate.”

“What about him?” Nate asked as Sterling walked away with one of his agents.

“Ah, no. You are not going to deflect.”

“EvilNate,” Eliot repeated as he climbed onto the helicopter.

“Yeah, Mama. EvilNate is here. I’ll tell him.”

Hardison grimaced and shook his head no like he wasn’t going to tell Nate what was just said in his ear.

“Parker?”

“She’s pissed. She’s made up a different nickname for you, but I ain’t repeating it, if you know what I mean.”

It took three tries for Nate to finally heave himself up into the helicopter without anyone’s help. He could tell that the three were totally pissed at him. All he could do was smile. He’d kept his end of the bargain, not to interfere with what they were doing. He went off and had a little bit of fun with Sterling. What else could go wrong?

“So, you guys want me back, right?”

Both Hardison and Eliot shook their heads no while Sophie just glared right at him.

“Months, Nate. Months.”

Nate didn’t mind too much where he ended up. At least now he was fed and clean. The bit about the handcuffs he could forgive in the future. His wrists were still a bit sore from being handcuffed by the real bad guys. Sophie’s handcuffs had padding.

“Parker and I had made a deal. I didn’t want to break it.”

“So off you go, with Sterling, I might add. It’s almost like you two were partners or something.”

“Or something.”

He just had to relax and enjoy what Sophie had planned for him if he was going to get out of the handcuffs anytime soon.

“Could you maybe let me go? I’ve had enough bondage to last a lifetime.”

“Bondage? Is there something you want to tell me about? Something happen between you and Sterling I might want to know?”

Oh, dear god. “What? No, no. It’s just I’ve been beaten, shot, punched, interrogated, strung up for days on end. I just thought we could relax, and you know…”

“What? I know what? All I know is we had to track you down and save you. And why, you might ask, did we have to track you down? You thought you fooled us? Gunfire?”

“Yeah, I know. It’s distinctive. Or whatever.”

“You cooking? A souffle?”

“First thing that came to mind.”

“Your skills are getting rusty.”

“So, you unlock the cuffs, maybe you teach me your methods.”

Sophie crouched over him. That deadly look in her eyes made him shiver a bit.

“You write any of this down? The great American novel?”

“Well, you got me there. Maybe I should. It might keep me out of trouble, you know. If you just let me…”

Instead of joining him on the bed, Sophie got up and quickly left the room, slamming the door as she did. She’ll be back, he thought. Once she cooled off, she’d be back and unlock the cuffs. He could get out of them. He’d done it several times in the past. It wasn’t that difficult.

“Soph?” he called out.

He couldn’t exactly remember how to get out of them, especially since she’d locked him to the headboard. The headboard was metal. 

“Soph? Come back.”

He pulled and yanked and twisted, trying to get out of the cuffs or break the headboard. It wasn’t budging.

“Sophie, dammit, let me out of here.”


End file.
